I Am Truly Not a Treacherous Minister Your Majesty

Chapter 78: Speedy Scapegoating

At this moment, the Censor-in-Chief expressed his stance, and those officials who had always followed Qin Ji expressed their willingness to go with him.

Among them, a certain Assistant Minister named Li also chose to stand with Qin Ji. Although this Assistant Minister Li was not very familiar with Qin Ji, Qin Ji knew that this Assistant Minister was also part of his network.

Even though they were not particularly close, it did not prevent him from having a close interest relationship with Qin Ji. Assistant Minister Li’s child was recommended by Qin Ji to become an officer.

In fact, many times, Qin Ji would do some favors that many officials would do, but he was selective. He did not push any random person into the army. The fact that Assistant Minister Li’s child could be recommended by him was partly because he needed such people to work hard for him, and partly because Assistant Minister Li’s son indeed had military talent.

Why could Qin Ji control the army of Daxia? There were many reasons, one of the main reasons being that many of the new officers in the Daxia army were recommended and brought up by him. Moreover, Qin Ji not only recommended them but also occasionally checked on how these officers were doing. He encouraged the good ones and told the bad ones how to correct their mistakes.

Therefore, he had considerable influence in the army. Although there were still some factions in the army, most of them were old-timers who would gradually retire or be marginalized over time. By then, Qin Ji’s people would probably be everywhere in the Daxia army.

This was the most feared aspect of Qin Ji.

“In that case, I’ll find a few people to go with me.” After saying this, Qin Ji selected a few people who could at least protect themselves on the battlefield—although he wanted someone to support him, he did not want to take care of a few burdens if a fight broke out.

A group of people walked out of the main hall and went straight to the palace gate.

After the guards opened the gate, Qin Ji stood at the entrance.

Outside the gate, the rebel soldiers were there, seemingly ready to storm the palace at any moment. Qin Ji drew the long knife he wore at his waist and stood there watching the rebels.

He stood there staring at them, but they did not move.

“I am Duke An, Qin Ji. Where is your commander? I want to talk to him.”

Qin Ji said.

He was not worried about these guys rushing over. Even if they did, he could protect himself with his combat skills.

“I am.”

Just as Qin Ji was looking for his target in the crowd, a person in armor stepped forward with a shout.

“I am Qin Ji, paying respects to Prince Chunshan.”

Seeing the person in front of him, Qin Ji respectfully bowed.

Prince Chunshan was Xia Yuxiao’s elder brother and the former crown prince. The throne was once within his reach, but in the end, his father did not choose him.

At first, Prince Chunshan found it very difficult to accept this result. He even personally argued with the late emperor, but it was to no avail. The late emperor seemed determined to pass the throne to Xia Yuxiao, not to this once-favored son.

After Xia Yuxiao ascended the throne, he did not treat the former crown prince poorly, giving him a high status and meeting many of his demands. In return, Xia Yuxiao only asked the former crown prince to make one promise: from now on, not to participate in state affairs.

Prince Chunshan was obedient. After Xia Yuxiao ascended the throne, he never made things difficult for him. Some of the crown prince’s supporters had even completely lost faith in him.

However, this rebellion completely exposed Prince Chunshan’s ambitions.

“Qin Ji,” Prince Chunshan looked down at Qin Ji from his horse, “where did you take my sister?”

“Your Highness, what are you talking about?” Qin Ji frowned and asked.

“Do I need to say it myself? Qin Ji.” Prince Chunshan sneered, raising his sword and pointing it at the palace, “I received news today that you led a group into Tai’an City, stirring up rebellion everywhere, and trapped His Majesty in the palace. So I gathered these troops to rescue His Majesty. Now my forces are strong, release His Majesty as soon as possible, and I can spare your life.”

Hearing Prince Chunshan’s words, Qin Ji almost burst out laughing.

To say the least, this prince’s ability to shift blame was top-notch. If Qin Ji hadn’t known that Prince Chunshan and Prince Rongsheng had colluded to start the rebellion, one might really think that Prince Chunshan was the hero saving the emperor in times of crisis.

In fact, Prince Chunshan knew that this lie wouldn’t fool Qin Ji, but he just needed an excuse to avoid being directly executed by the emperor and to give the emperor a reason to spare him. The pretense had to be maintained.

“Your Highness, you cannot make such baseless accusations,” Qin Ji said unhurriedly, “It was Prince Rongsheng who started the rebellion, so I brought troops to suppress it. His Majesty is safe in the main hall, and I haven’t touched him. And now, Your Highness is accusing me of holding His Majesty hostage? I won’t take the blame for this.”

“In that case, do you dare let me see His Majesty?”

“Please go ahead.”

Qin Ji sneered.

Prince Chunshan waved his hand, and the troops behind him immediately followed.

“Wait,” Qin Ji suddenly shouted, then stopped Prince Chunshan, “Your Highness, your soldiers don’t need to come in. Also, please dismount inside the palace.”

Not everyone could ride a horse in the palace. Qin Ji was riding because of the urgent situation earlier. To put it bluntly, in such an emergency, even cutting down the pillars of the main hall would be acceptable.

But now it wasn’t an emergency, so even if you were a prince, you had to dismount.

Prince Chunshan looked back at his soldiers, was silent for a moment, then nodded:

“Fine, I’ll go in with you.”

Qin Ji led Prince Chunshan into the palace, heading straight for the main hall with the officials.

When Prince Chunshan saw Xia Yuxiao in the main hall, he quickly put on a relieved expression.

“Your Majesty, I heard that the situation here was urgent, so I brought troops to support you immediately. I apologize for the delay in rescuing you!”

“You came to rescue me?”

“Indeed.”

“If you came to rescue me, why did you clash with my imperial guards? Why did you head straight for my palace?”

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Xia Yuxiao coldly looked at him and questioned.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty! I thought that the rebels had taken control of your imperial guards, so I was anxious to rescue you…”

“Ridiculous! You didn’t verify anything and rushed to the palace, clashing with the imperial guards and causing chaos!” Xia Yuxiao pointed at him and scolded, “Step back for now, and I’ll deal with you later!”

“Yes…”

Prince Chunshan appeared regretful on the surface, but he was relieved inside.

At least, for now, he had gotten away with it. He didn’t know how much Xia Yuxiao disliked him, but at least he wouldn’t be executed immediately.